The IMF Statistics Department's Government Finance Statistics Manual 2001 (GFSM 2001) updates the 1986 edition of A Manual on Government
Finance Statistics (GFSM 1986). The 2001 edition describes an
integrated statistical system that is harmonized, to the extent possible,
with the 1993 edition of the System of National Accounts (1993
SNA). The GFSM 2001 is intended to be a reference volume describing
the GFS system. It covers concepts, definitions, classifications, and accounting
rules, and it provides a comprehensive analytic framework within which the
statistics can be summarized and presented in a form appropriate for analysis,
planning, and policy determination (Figure 4.1). The use
and interpretation of government finance statistics, however, is beyond
the scope of the GFSM 2001, and practical guidance on the compilation
of the statistics is reserved for the GFSM 2001companion
material.

Chapter 1: Introduction.Summarizes the scope
and purpose of the GFS system and provides a broad overview of the contents
of the manual.

Chapter 2: Coverage of the GFS System. Defines
the general government sector as a set of resident institutional units,
where an institutional unit is defined as it is in the 1993 SNA. It also describes the central, state, and local government subsectors and
the extension of the general government sector to the public sector by
including government financial and nonfinancial corporations. The annex
discusses the nature and classification of Social Protection
Schemes.

Chapter 3: Flows, Stocks, and Accounting Rules. First describes the flows and stocks that are recorded in the GFS system.
All data on units of the general government sector are either flows (mostly
transactions) or stocks (assets, liabilities, and net worth). It then summarizes the accounting rules used to record the flows and stocks.
These rules relate to the type of accounting system used, time of recording,
valuation, and miscellaneous other topics.

Chapter 4: The Analytic Framework. Presents
a set of financial statements that integrates all of the economic flows
and stocks of the general government sector and highlights summary measures
of government activities that are considered important for the study of
fiscal policy.

Chapter 5: Revenue. Defines revenue as an
inflow of resources from a transaction that changes net worth, provides
a classification of types of revenue, and describes in detail the contents
of each classification category.

Chapter 6: Expense. Defines expense as an
outflow of resources from a transaction that changes net worth, provides
two classifications of types of expense (functional and economic), and
describes in detail the contents of each classification category. The annex provides the Classification of the Functions of Government.

Chapter 7: The Balance Sheet. Defines the
assets and liabilities included in the GFS system, provides guidelines
on methods of estimating the current market value of various types of
assets and liabilities, provides a classification of types of assets and
liabilities, and describes in detail the contents of each classification
category.

Chapter 10: Other Economic Flows. Defines
other economic flows as all changes in the value or volume of assets and
liabilities that do not result from transactions, such as changes in the
market price of a security or the discovery of a mineral deposit. It also provides a classification of types of other economic flows
and describes in detail the contents of each classification category.